DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0220Z April 27, 2023
SMOKE/AEROSOL: U.S. Gulf Coast Region/Gulf of Mexico/Cuba/Southern and Eastern Mexico/Northwestern Central America/Pacific Well South of the Southern Coast of Mexico and Northwestern Central America… A large area of varying density smoke originating mainly from dense agricultural burning throughout southern Mexico and Central America. The thickest smoke is emanating from Honduras and Nicaragua moving northwestward across the far western Caribbean Sea, northern Guatemala, Belize, the Yucatan Peninsula, the Bay of Campeche, and the western Gulf of Mexico. Lighter smoke exists surrounding this area, including El Salvador, southern Guatemala, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the coastal plain of eastern Mexico, and the southern CONUS from Texas to the Florida Panhandle. The exact northward extent of this area of smoke Some minor contributions from gas flaring activity in the Bay of Campeche and the coastal areas surrounding the Bay of Campeche. UNKNOWN AEROSOL/SMOKE: Eastern Pacific/Western and Central Canada/CONUS… A large area of unknown aerosol was observed blanketing an area extending from the northeastern Pacific to the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic. The thickest portions of this aerosol layer was observed across the Northwest Territory into northeastern Alberta and across the Great Lakes with other portions evident over central Canada, the central CONUS, and across portions of the Pacific just offshore of the west coast of North America. The likely source of of this aerosol layer is remnant sulfur dioxide from the eruption of Sheveluch volcano in Kamchatka a few weeks ago, lofted dust from a rash of large dust storms originating in central and eastern Asia, and, at least for the portion across the central CONUS, seasonal agricultural burning. Hosley THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS PRIMARILY INTENDED TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF SMOKE ASSOCIATED WITH ACTIVE FIRES AND SMOKE WHICH HAS BECOME DETACHED FROM THE FIRES AND DRIFTED SOME DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE SOURCE FIRE, TYPICALLY OVER THE COURSE OF ONE OR MORE DAYS. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST ARE ALSO DESCRIBED. USERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO VIEW A GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF THESE AND OTHER PLUMES WHICH ARE LESS EXTENSIVE AND STILL ATTACHED TO THE SOURCE FIRE IN VARIOUS GRAPHIC FORMATS ON OUR WEB SITE: JPEG map: https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/land/fire/currenthms.jpg Smoke data: https://satepsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/FIRE/web/HMS/Smoke_Polygons Fire data: https://satepsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/FIRE/web/HMS/Fire_Points ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE SENT TO: SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov